VH1 Lays Off Bulk of New York Development and Production Team

April 22, 2014|Maane Khatchatourian | Variety

VH1 has laid off more than 10 staffers, inducing two major execs, on its New York-based development team.

Brad Abramson and Kari McFarland, VPs of East Coast production and development, are among those who have been let go, which represents the majority of the New York office's development and production staff.

"With ratings on an upswing and the pace of development increasing cross platform, we felt it was the right time to examine our overall production and development structure in New York," a VH1 spokesman said in a statement. "It's imperative we accurately structure our teams to deliver the content that our growing number of viewers want from VH1 today."

Programming chief Susan Levison took the helm less than a year ago and looks to restructure the network, which is a hit with the key 18-49 demo. This included the recent hire of veteran showrunner Nina Diaz as senior VP of East Coast production and development.

Diaz will likely refill most of the now-vacant positions with new hires with experience in multiplatform programming as they will be running the network's app.